The study aimed at identifying the role of the director in crystallizing aesthetic values and explaining the role he plays and his relationship with the working team in addition to the role he plays in directing television programs in a way that suits all societies. The researcher discusses the effects of television output, method, means and general rules. The researcher tried to shed light on the role of the director and his qualifications and tasks in addition to the elements to influence the viewer. The study was based on descriptive statistical analytical method to provide data on the problem of the study, analysis and scientific interpretation. The study reached several results, the most prominent of which are the following: The work of the director is the basis of the information process and therefore the effort of the team depends on the achievement. The art of directing a self - standing science depends on the personality of the director and type of material produced. The art of directing is considered the spirit of the TV product and the last portal in the media work system. The most important recommended by the researcher:-The director must be comprehensive and briefed on all sections of television work and the importance of the team working with him and his ideas. There must be a separation between television and radio director and journalist to give each director his distinctive characteristic in the field of specialization The Sudanese director should keep pace with the developments in the media and work on the personal industry that he wishes to provide and continue the training and not only the studies he has received.


In order to realize the application of big data technology in e-commerce supply chain, this paper puts forward a novel application method of e-commerce supply chain based on big data technology. This method is based on big data technology, combines the Internet of things technology and cloud computing technology, constructs the big data platform of the e-commerce supply chain, and can mine and analyze the data in the e-commerce supply chain. The research results show that this method can promote the application and development of big data technology in e-commerce supply chain and bring great convenience for businesses and customers.


Land suitability classification is currently based on the definition of a Land Utilisation Type, the compromise point between environmental sustainability and economic sustainability. The Simulation methods to define Land Utilization Type have been relatively little used since mathematical models are focused on problems of scientific rather than practical nature. In this paper a regression model is presented as a tool in prediction of crop production. The model is based on the relationships among climatic conditions, soil water, nutrient concentration in plants, and maize production. Climatic condition is modelled by the aridity index and is linked to crop production by a Gauss curve, soil water is modeled by AWC (available water capacity), which is linearly correlated to crop production. Finally, nutrients concentration is linked to crop production by a non rectangular hyperbole. Jointing the three modules (climate, water, and nutrients) originates a complex theoretical equation, in which all chemicals absorbed by plant are considered. The model has been validated in experimental trials. Its current application is subjected to a simplification of the theoretical equation. [M. Wahsha, A. M. Al-Omari, K. Mostafavi, B. Raafat, M. Ghotbi, M. Ghotbi, H. R. Rouhi , M. Esmaeili Azad, M. Ramezani, M. Amini Dehaghi, A. Moghaddam Khamseh Modellistic Approach for Land Suitability An Application to Maize] Journal of American Science 2012; 8(X): X-X].(ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.americanscience.org.


Aiming at some elastic activity duration in block erection scheduling,definitions of rigid activity duration and elastic activity duration were proposed.Impacts of elastic activity duration on resource configuration and total project cost were studied.Complexity and research significance of block erection scheduling with minimization of total project cost as optimization objective were analyzed.The planning model of block erection scheduling considering elastic activity duration was constructed.Search algorithm based on tabu search strategy was used to solve the proposed model.Experiments were conducted on randomly generated both small-scale and large-scale examples and a real block erection scheduling part.Results verified the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed algorithm.


1. Two nonnegative numbers x and y have a sume of 23. What is the maximum possible product? SOLUTION: We wish to maximize p = xy, but first we would like to express this as a function of a single variable. Since x + y = 23, we may write y = 23 − x. So we wish to maximize p = x(23 − x) = −x 2 + 23x for x ∈ [0, 23], since both x and y must be nonnegative. p = −2x + 23 so we have x = 23 2 is the only critical point. The product at the endpoints is 0, and (23 2) 2 > 0 so this is the absolute maximum product possible. 2. A box's total dimensions (length + width + height) cannot exceed 108 in. If the box has a square base, what is the largest possible volume? SOLUTION: We wish to maximize v = lwh. But first we want to express this as a single variable. Since the base is square, l = w. Also since the dimensions add up to 108, l + w + h = 108, which can be written 2l + h = 108 since l = w. Then h = 108 − 2l. Finally we may state our optimization as follows: maximize: v = l 2 (108 − 2l) = −2l 3 + 108l 2 Where l ∈ [0, 54], if the height is 108 inches, that is at least feasible, and a flat square 54 × 54 would also satisfy the requirements. The volume at the two endpoints is zero, so any critical point is a local maximum as long as its volume is > 0 (which of course it has to be!). Taking a first derivative, we get v = −6l 2 + 216l = 6l(−l + 36), so l = 36 is our critical point giving a 36 × 36 × 36 cube, which maximizes volume. 3. A rain gutter is formed by taking a sheet of metal 9 in wide and bending it in thirds (making an isoceles trapezoid with an open top). What is the angle that maximizes cross-sectional area? SOLUTION: The area of a trapezoid is 1 2 (b 1 + b 2)h. b 1 = 3 which is given. The upper base depends on the angle θ. Consider the small triangles that are formed, say they have …


The number of elderly patients with superficial esophageal neoplasms has steadily increased, but few studies have focused on the clinical outcomes of esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection in these patients. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the feasibility and safety of endoscopic submucosal dissection among elderly patients with superficial esophageal neoplasms.


On the morning of 8 February 1587 (n.s.) Mary Stuart was executed at Fotheringay Castle in Northampton for her complicity in the Babington Plotthe last of the great conspiracies to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and to place her distant cousin Mary on the English throne in order to re-establish England as a Catholic state. Particularly because of remarks Queen Elizabeth allegedly made to William Davison, to whom the execution warrant was entrusted, nearly every modem historian who has written about the trial and death of Mary Stuart has speculated about the possibility that Queen Elizabeth, particularly in the days immediately preceding Mary's beheading, considered assassination of her cousin as a politic alternative to the axe. Although Elizabeth's chief councillor, Lord Burghley, wished to proceed with what (at least publicly) he regarded as a legal activity, it has not been at all points clear how he was able to persuade the queen to take the steps necessary to accomplish the execution; because Mary was her relative, because she was female, because the doctrine of Divine Right of Kings (to which Elizabeth frequently resorted as proof of her own authority) specified that monarchs were subject to God's judgment alone (and not civil law), and finally, because of the foreign policy implications of executing a woman who was French, Queen of Scotland, near heir to the English throne, and a devout Catholic, Elizabeth hesitated to proceed. Although Elizabeth's misgivings were not finally overcome until the early days of February, it has been widely assumed that from the time the Babington conspiracy began to unravel, Burghley had anticipated and worked to counter the queen's thoroughly predictable reluctance to act. Indeed, his own correspondence and records suggest just that.' Yet, in addition to Lord Burghley's personal records, there exists manuscript evidence of another sort, which demonstrates that between the convening of Parliament in early November and the first week of December 1586, Burghley was hard at the task of shaping policy towards Mary, not simply through his careful staging of the trial and his endeavors to reassemble a reliably anti-Marian Parliament, but also through his influence on


Flow-coupled switching equations are derived for surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal devices, starting from Leslie, Stewart and Nakagawa's continuum theory for smectic C liquid crystals. Comparisons with nematic like dynamic equations are made.


In an era of economic globalization, ports are evolving from being traditional interfaces between land and sea to providers of complete logistics networks. The momentum of this trend is creating a port shakeout, leading to the development of a sharply delineated hierarchy on a global scale. Ports are being increasingly differentiated by their ability to handle the latest generation of container ships coming on stream. With the trend toward even bigger container ships, fewer ports are becoming capable of handling them. As a result, the flexibility of the world seaborne trade flow is becoming increasingly constricted—particularly in the event of a natural or man-made crisis or disturbance.


Brushless DC (BLDC) electric motors are used worldwide for their efficiency, controllability, reduced power operability, high durability, and low noise. Replicating the real application set up in the simulation world, BLDC motors can be implemented in modern Spice programs in order to improve verification and testing processes. This paper presents an original behavioral modeling method to control three MOSFET half bridges used to drive a BLDC motor load based on feedback loop provided by the motor shaft angle. The PSpice motor load is implemented using real BLDC motor parameters, shaft angle and shaft speed being the reference motor parameters in order to monitor if a complete rotation is performed. The simulation results are compared with the real measurements and demonstrate the proof of the behavioral modeling concept on this specific automotive application.


In frames of generally accepted procedure a theoretically justified author's methodology for woman gymnasts choreographic training is proposed. An effectiveness of proposed feet work quality improvement methodology is proven


In this paper, we consider the class of α[γ,γ′ ]-generalized closed set in topological spaces and investigate some of their properties. We also present and study new separation axioms by using the notions of α-open and α-bioperations. Also, we analyze the relations with some well known separation axioms.


Meteorological radar targets such as raindrops, refractivity perturbations, etc., are being studied using scattering angles other than 180° (back scattering). An analysis, analogous to that of Probert-Jones, yields a radar equation that is applicable, for a bistatic radar system, over all of space excluding the region near the line joining the two antennas.


Profiling of RNA from mouse mammary epithelial cells (MECs) isolated on pregnancy day (P)14 and lactation day (L)2 revealed that the majority of differentially expressed microRNA declined precipitously between late pregnancy and lactation. The decline in miR-150, which exhibited the greatest fold-decrease, was verified quantitatively and qualitatively. To test the hypothesis that the decline in miR-150 is crucial for lactation, MEC-specific constitutive miR-150 was achieved by crossing ROSA26-lox-STOP-lox-miR-150 mice with WAP-driven Cre recombinase mice. Both biological and foster pups nursed by bitransgenic dams exhibited a dramatic decrease in survival compared with offspring nursed by littermate control dams. Protein products of predicted miR-150 targets Fasn, Olah, Acaca, and Stat5B were significantly suppressed in MECs of bitransgenic mice with constitutive miR-150 expression as compared with control mice at L2. Lipid profiling revealed a significant reduction in fatty acids synthesized by the de novo pathway in L2 MECs of bitransgenic versus control mice. Collectively, these data support the hypothesis that a synchronized decrease in miRNAs, such as miR-150, at late pregnancy serves to allow translation of targets crucial for lactation. Summary: A decline in miR-150 is critical for lactation, as pups nursed by dams in which this decline is prevented exhibit a dramatic decrease in survival compared with littermate controls.


Poster: "ECR 2015 / C-1657 / Mammography and  breast ultrasound as easy and effective screening methods after breast surgery" by: "M. C. Stefan, M. Sebeni, C. Zaharia; Bucharest/RO"


Sergius Bulgakov. The Bride of the Lamb. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002. xviii, 529 pp. Index. $40.00, paper.Publication of the English translation of Bulgakov's magnum opus, The Bride of the Lamb (Nevesta Agntsa), marks an important event for the areas of Slavic literatures and cultures, Religious Studies, and humanities in general. Through his superb translation, Jakim brings to the English reader Bulgakov's major theological work and yet another work of Russian religious philosophy.Works by the foremost Russian Orthodox theologian, Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944)-which were previously available mostly in Russian originals and French, and in part German, translations-started becoming available to the English-speaking audience only recently. The works that appeared in English in the last decade include Philosophy of Economy (2000), Towards a Russian Political Theology (1999), The Holy Grail and the Eucharist (1997), and Sophia, the Wisdom of God (1993). At the same time, Cathrine Evtuhov's study, The Cross and the Sickle: Sergei Bulgakov and the Fate of Russian Religious Philosophy, became the first major contribution to the study of Bulgakov's intellectual biography. While these publications reflect the growth and deepening of the scholarly interest in Russian religious thought, they also inspire hope that the long overdue discovery by the English-speaking West of this eminent Orthodox theologian and sophiologist will ensue.Bulgakov's scholarly career and oeuvre comprise several periods, reflecting influences by Marx and Kant, Vladimir Soloviov and Pavel Florenskii. The Bride of the Lamb was written at the time of Bulgakov's prime as a mystical thinker and theologian and is the last book in the trilogy, entitled On Divine Humanity. Widely regarded as a masterpiece of modern religious philosophy and Orthodox theology, The Bride of the Lamb was published posthumously in 1945. This and the first two volumes, The Lamb of God (1933) and The Comforter (1936), have an underlying thematic unity, yet each volume is a work in its own right. The first two volumes are dedicated respectively to Christology and pneumatology. The Bride of the Lamb, however, is Bulgakov's most complete exposition of ecclesiology and sophiology. It comprises three sections: "The Creator and Creation"; "The Church, History and the Afterlife"; and "Eschatology," which extensively dwell on the issues of interrelation between God and the created world, the doctrine of the Church and the eschatological subjects, including afterlife and salvation.While many of Bulgakov's works remain difficult to find, they are also difficult to read. …


Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic educed extraordinary policy responses globally, including in India, to flatten the infection-growth curve. The trajectories of infections, recovery, and deaths vastly differed across Indian states. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether persistent investments by states in critical social sectors, such as health and education, explain their preparedness and hence better management of the pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach
This study uses secondary data on the number of infected, recovered and deceased due to COVID-19, along with data on population and income across 302 districts in 11 major states in India. Data on health and education indices are collected at the state-level. Linear regression models that also control for heteroskedasticity are applied.

Findings
This study finds that higher investments in health care and education reduce the propensity of the infection spread. Further, states with persistent investments in health care and education exhibit a higher rate of recovery. This study also finds that death rates are significantly lower in states with higher investments in education.

Research limitations/implications
The findings support the conjecture that states that have consistently invested in social sectors benefited from the associated positive externalities during the crisis that helped them manage the pandemic better.

Originality/value
This study will help policymakers understand the underlying social forces critical to the success in the fight against pandemics. Apart from improving preparedness for future pandemics, the evidence provided in the paper may help give better direction and purpose to tax-financed public spending in states where social sector development has hitherto received low priority.


This paper introduces the principle in the application of eddy current technology to detect defects on the surface of aluminum profile and several factors of detecting the depth and precision. On this basis it designs a set of closed-loop system which can be used for the detection and repair of defects in the production line, and outlooks its academic significance and application prospect.


Procedure (1) for displaying a target area (62) of a hollow organ (20) of an examination object (64), in which a catheter tip (14) of a catheter is introduced (12), comprising the following steps: S1) to receive a at least the target area (62) of the hollow organ (20) comprising, 3D image data set (30); S2) receiving a characteristic value for the determination of the hollow organ (20) in the 3D image data set (30), determination of the hollow organ (20) in the 3D image data set (30) and determining a center line (44) of the hollow organ (20) of the 3D image data set (30), wherein the central line (44) of the hollow organ (20) is interpolated steady at Gefaszu- vessel or disposal; S3) receiving a 2D fluoroscopy image (10), comprising at least the catheter tip (14) of the inserted catheter; S4) registration of the 2D fluoroscopy image (10) with the 3D image data set (30) and determining the position of the catheter tip (14) of the inserted catheter within the 3D image data set (30), wherein the height or depth of the catheter tip (14) to the height or depth of the central line (44) is set; S5) determining a first and a second projection (26, 28) of the 3D image data set (30), said projections (26, 28) originate (42) (in the registered position of the catheter tip (14) of the inserted catheter 12) have within the 3D image data set (30), and wherein the projection directions (36, 38) in an image plane (40) of the 2D fluoroscopy image (10), the registered position of the catheter tip (14) of the inserted catheter (12) within includes the 3D image data set (30), and wherein the projection directions (36, 38) perpendicular to the centerline (44) of the hollow organ (20) at the registered position of the catheter tip (14) of the inserted catheter (12) within the 3D image data set ( 30), and wherein the projection directions (36, 38 extend to each other) in antiparallel; S6) representation of the first and / or second projection (26, 28) of the 3D image data set (30).


A method for preparing antenna includes forming said antenna on a base material and setting flat surface, arc surface, the first radioactive metal wire, the second radioactive metal wire, the first feed point and the second feed point on said base material. The prepared antenna is featured as arranging high-frequency and low-frequency resonant path for receiving and emitting signal of mobile phone with multiple frequency on flat surface as well as on arc surface then connecting it to the first feed point, setting the second radioactive metal wire for receiving GPS signal on arc surface then connecting it to the second feed point.


The study examined Christian women's religious beliefs and practices in relationship to their intimate partner violence (IPV) relationships. The religious variables included religious affiliation status, religious attendance, religious teachings about gender roles in marriage, and religious problem-solving approaches. Of 1,476 religious Christian women in a southwest metropolitan region, 50.7% (n = 749) reported that they had experienced at least one or more types of abuse (physical violence, emotional abuse, sexual assault, stalking, or threats) by current or previous intimate partners. Women and their intimate partners who attended more regularly in church services were less likely to be involved in IPV relationships. There were no significant differences in rates of domestic violence reported between women from conservative affiliations and liberal/moderate affiliations, although women in congregations that did not support divorce in cases of IPV appeared to be more likely to be victims of abuse. In addition, more than 70% of Christian women who left an IPV relationship reported their faith provided them the strength to leave.


We describe a "tunneling" proof of the cobordism invariance of the index of Dirac operators. The goal of this note is to present a very short proof of the cobordism invariance of the index. More precisely, if D is a Dirac operator on an odd dimensional manifold M with boundary ∂M = M then we show that the index of its restriction D to M is zero. The novelty of this proof consists in the fact that we provide an explicit isomorphism between the kernel and the cokernel of D. This map can be viewed as a sort of "propagator" (see Sect. 4). 1. The setting Consider the following collection of data. (a) A compact, oriented, (2n + 1)-dimensional Riemann manifold (M, ĝ) with boundary ∂M = M such that ĝ is a product metric near the boundary. We denote by s the longitudinal coordinate on a collar neighborhood of M . The various orientations are defined as in Figure 1. (b) A bundle of complex self-adjoint Clifford modules E → M (in the sense of [BGV]). The Clifford multiplication is denoted by ĉ : T ∗M → End (E).


The Dual Active Bridge (DAB) is a bidirectional DC/DC power converter with a high-frequency transformer to provide a wide input-output voltage range and galvanic isolation, making the converter attractive to use in multiple power conversion applications. Highly efficient modulation schemes like Triple Phase Shift (TPS) and control strategies, like classic PI controllers and Model Predictive Control, have been proposed to control voltage or current reference in the literature. Particularly for battery charging stations, independent of the charging process the implementation should limit both current and voltage inside a secure operational area. The present paper proposes a voltage control with output current saturation capability for the output side of a DAB with a TPS modulation strategy based on [1] and a Moving Discretized Control Set Model Predictive Control (MDCS-MPC) [2]. Modulation is transparent from the proposed control algorithm, which only generates the dc output current for the desired actuation. Simulation results show the dynamic and steady-state performance of a pulse charging process on a battery model. PI controller results are contrasted with the MDCS-MPC strategy implemented, highlighting advantages and trade-offs.


Business environment across the globe has become increasingly volatile and constantly changing in the last few decades. The economic recession being witnessed by Nigeria in recent times stems from the turmoil in global commodity market in 2014 which brought their full weight to bear on the Nigeria economy in 2015. As a result of these crises, business sectors which serve as the engine that drive the growth of Nigeria economy have failed. The study examined the effect of economic recession on Nigeria business sectors. The study adapt a qualitative content analysis, this method allowed the researchers to manipulate documents and develops themes relevant to economic recession and change management. It was recommended that managers of business sectors should demonstrate strong leadership role throughout the organization by spreading leadership and decision-making responsibilities in order to inspire and motivate employees to play an active role in implementing change.


Electrolysis is a chemical reaction that produces electrical energy via an electrochemical process. This electrical energy is the driving force needed for the chemical reactions. This phenomenon was first observed by Nicolson and Carlisle in 1789. Hydrogen is considered to be one of the most promising energy carriers for providing clean, reliable and sustainable energy systems (Balaji et al., 2011). It could be beneficial in meeting the global threat of climate change; and it could eliminate those issues associated with the use of fossil fuels. Although the production of hydrogen is more expensive than fossil fuel, it is an inexhaustible resource that could meet most of our future energy needs (Van Ruijven et al., 2007)


141 Background: NED-170 is a 7-component regimen of both marketed drugs and nutraceuticals with established safety and tolerability profiles and antineoplastic activity. These components, including metronomically-dosed cyclophosphamide (CTX), metformin, naltrexone, alpha lipoic acid, genistein, curcumin, and melatonin, target four key pathways driving tumor growth and metastasis. Methods: NED-170 was evaluated pre-clinically for tolerability and efficacy using a murine CT-26 syngeneic xenograft model. After tumor volume reached 80-120 mm³, mice were randomized into three groups of 10. Experimental arms included: NED-170 allometrically scaled to provide comparable exposure to human clinical trial doses, vehicle, CTX alone, or an anti-PD-1 antibody. In parallel to these studies, a compassionate expanded access program (EAP) was established in 2013 as a precursor to formal clinical trials. To date, 21 pts. with stage IIIc/IV advanced solid tumor malignancies (5 ovarian, 6 sarcoma, 4 Br. Ca, 2 NSCLC, & 4 other cancers) who either sought alternatives to standard-of-care (SOC) chemotherapy or whose tumors progressed through available SOC options have been enrolled. Results: In pre-clinical studies, NED-170 demonstrated 78% tumor growth inhibition (TBI) which exceeded vehicle in a statistically significant fashion (p < 0.001). In contrast, anti-PD-1 treatment failed to achieve anti-tumor activity and CTX alone achieved 50% TBI. In parallel, 21 EAP pts. have been treated with a combined 1,217 months (mos.) of NED-170 therapy (median = 11.8 mos; range = 1.0-60.2). For all pts., the regimen has been safe and well-tolerated with no drug-related grade-3-4 adverse events or dose reductions/discontinuations reported. Observational data reported by pts. or physicians demonstrated that 81% of pts. derived benefit and improved quality of life in this late stage setting. Conclusions: Based on these encouraging data, NED-170 may provide late stage cancer pts. with a safe, effective, and lower cost alternative to standard chemotherapy. A multinational phase 1-2b clinical trial commencing in late 2019 is planned.


The present disclosure relates to an application protection method, apparatus and a terminal, the terminal belonging to the area of security. The method comprising: intercepting start request, start request for requesting to start the application; whether the application to be started to be protected is determined according to the activation request; If the application needs to be protected, the protective screen is initiated. The present disclosure on the detection of the application to launch a program to be protected, start protection interface, upon receiving the corresponding protected interface release signal, then launch the application; solution application startup protection interface, to be protected since the It is already running, causing problems in the application of information may be leaked by playing a sound and other ways to reach the start screen protection when it detects the application is started to be protected directly without starting the application, so thorough the protective effect of the application.


OBJECTIVE: To compare lecture and small-group discussion for third-year medical students in obstetrics and gynecology. METHODS: Over a 2-year period, 91 third-year medical students in the obstetrics and gynecology clerkships were given educational sessions on diabetes and hypertension in pregnancy by a single instructor, either in a traditional lecture format or in a small-group discussion. After the instructional sessions, students anonymously completed a 20-question multiple-choice examination on the covered topics. They also completed an evaluation form on the instructional format, using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). At the completion of each clerkship, students repeated the same multiple-choice examination. RESULTS: There was a significantly higher level of enjoyment (median value 5 versus 4, P < .001) and sense of educational stimulation (median value 5 versus 4, P < .001) in the discussion group, and students in the discussion group were less desirous of the alternate instructional format than those in the lecture group (median value 2 versus 3, P < .001). However, there were no differences in the test scores, either immediately after the instructional sessions or at the end of the clerkships. There was a 90% power to detect a 15% difference in postinstructional test scores. CONCLUSION: Third-year medical students learning about hypertension and diabetes in pregnancy during their obstetrics and gynecology clerkship strongly preferred small-group discussions over traditional lectures. However, this preference did not lead to improved test scores on these subjects. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-1


The International Tribunal for Children's Rights (ITCR) was established to conduct individual and public inquiries and propose concrete solutions to violations of children's rights. This article reports on the efforts of the ITCR to enforce extraterritorial laws in response to the international dimension of child sex exploitation. The primary message being advocated is that travelers cannot go to foreign countries to engage in sexual crimes against children, evade criminal prosecution in the countries where the crimes are committed and then expect to return home without any consequences. In its first public hearings held in Paris, France to the address the effectiveness of extraterritorial legislation, governments and nongovernmental organizations informed the ITCR about their attempts to halt child sexual exploitation. Several changes needed to make extraterritorial laws more effective were cited. These include public awareness-raising; supporting existing instruments; application of preventive approaches to child abuse; and sensitizing and motivating judicial, police and administrative authorities to provide for the needs to fight child sex tourism.


Objective: To introduce the progress of research on the pharmaceutical approaches to oral colon-specific drug delivery system in recent years.Methods: Literatures were collected and analyzed on the characteristics of the colon,the principle and the materials of the oral colon-specific drug delivery system.Results: There were various of pharmaceutical approaches used on colonic delivery,such as time-based,pH-dependent and biodegradable systems,etc.Conclusion: As one of the advanced technologies of modern pharmaceutical methods,oral colon-specific drug delivery system plays an important role in the targeted drug research and has a good commercial prospect.


We studied the occurrence tendency and habitat types of wading birds in the large river systems of Japan using datasets from the National Census on River Environments. A total of 81 wader species were recorded. A higher number of species of wading birds were found in some regions that have important mudflat habitats in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, than in other regions. However, not only waders that inhabit estuaries and mudflats but also many waders that inhabit inland freshwater bodies were recorded in most Japanese regions. This result suggests that river environments are important habitats for many wader species. On the other hand, the number of many wader species has recently decreased nationwide. Especially, the populations of waders that use inland wetlands as foraging and breeding sites showed a high decreasing tendency. These results suggested a decline in the number of healthy inland wetlands that contain wader habitats. We suggest that river restoration programs in Japan focus on improving the health of wetland environments by maintaining floodplain water bodies, gravels, and aquatic plant belts.


Supplemental breast cancer screening with breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is recommended for women at high risk of breast cancer. To the authors' knowledge, recent national trends in breast MRI use are unknown.


Wireless communication using electro-magnetic (EM) fields acts as the backbone for information exchange among wearable devices around the human body. However, for Implanted devices, EM fields incur high amount of absorption in the tissue, while alternative modes of transmission including ultrasound, optical and magnetoelectric methods result in large amount of transduction losses due to conversion of one form of energy to another, thereby increasing the overall end-to-end energy loss. To solve the challenge of wireless powering and communication in a brain implant with low end-end channel loss, we present Bi-Phasic Quasistatic Brain Communication (BP-QBC), achieving < 60dB worst-case end-to-end channel loss at a channel length of ~55mm, by using Electro-quasistatic (EQS) Signaling that avoids transduction losses due to no field-modality conversion. BP-QBC utilizes dipole coupling based signal transmission within the brain tissue using differential excitation in the transmitter (TX) and differential signal pick-up at the receiver (RX), while offering ~41X lower power w.r.t. traditional Galvanic Human Body Communication (G-HBC) at a carrier frequency of 1MHz, by blocking any DC current paths through the brain tissue. Since the electrical signal transfer through the human tissue is electro-quasistatic up to several 10's of MHz range, BP-QBC allows a scalable (bps-10Mbps) duty-cycled uplink (UL) from the implant to an external wearable. The power consumption in the BP-QBC TX is only 0.52 μW at 1Mbps (with 1% duty cycling), which is within the range of harvested power in the downlink (DL) from a wearable hub to an implant through the EQS brain channel, with externally applied electric currents < 1/5th of ICNIRP safety limits. Furthermore, BP-QBC eliminates the need for sub-cranial interrogators/repeaters, as it offers better signal strength due to no field transduction. Such low end-to-end channel loss with high data rates enabled by a completely new modality of brain communication and powering has deep societal and scientific impact in the fields of neurobiological research, brain-machine interfaces, electroceuticals and connected healthcare.


This study investigates the chondroprotective properties of Salvianolic acid B (Sal B) in interleukin (IL)1β-induced rabbit chondrocytes. Quantitative real-time PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot were performed to investigate the effects of Sal B on the mRAN and protein levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1, MMP-3, MMP-13, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) and collagen II in IL-1β-induced rabbit chondrocytes. Sal B inhibits the mRNA level as well as the protein level of these MMPs. Sal B also increases IL-1β-inhibited mRNA and protein levels of TIMP-1 and collagen II. In addition, Sal B inhibits the IL-1β-induced activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and the degradation of inhibitor of κB (IκB)-α. Our data suggest that Sal B exhibit chondroprotective properties in chondrocytes.


We address the problem of characterising the compatible tuples of measurements that admit a unique joint measurement. We derive a uniqueness criterion based on the method of perturbations and apply it to show that extremal points of the set of compatible tuples admit a unique joint measurement, while all tuples that admit a unique joint measurement lie in the boundary of such a set. We also provide counter-examples showing that none of these properties are both necessary and sufficient, thus completely describing the relation between joint measurement uniqueness and the structure of the compatible set. As a by-product of our investigations, we completely characterise the extremal and boundary points of the set of general tuples of measurements and of the subset of compatible tuples.


BACKGROUND: Our previous study demonstrated that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) presented with a low survival rate and newly formed vascular‐like structures was sparsely distributed in the local infarct tissues after cell transplantation, which certainly impaired the therapeutic efficacy. Long non‐coding RNA‐H19 (IncRNA‐H19) has been confirmed to be associated with MSCs differentiation and mediate vascularization. OBJECTIVE: To observe the influence of IncRNA‐H19 on the survival and vascularization potential of MSCs in vitro and to explore the possible mechanism. METHODS: MSCs were obtained and cultured in vitro. Cells were divided into five groups: MSCs+H19, MSCs+H19 negative control (MSCs+H19 NC), MSCs+si‐H19, MSCs+si‐H19 negative control (MSCs+si‐H19 NC) and MSCs groups. MSCs+H19 and MSCs+H19 NC groups were transfected with IncRNA‐H19 and IncRNA‐H19 scramble RNA respectively, while MSCs+siH19 and MSCs+si‐H19 NC groups were transfected with IncRNA‐H19 siRNA and IncRNA‐H19 siRNA scramble respectively. Cells were cultured under hypoxic‐ischemic condition (serum‐free medium, 1% O2) for 24 hours. Then, cell proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated using MTS and TUNEL, respectively. Cell supernatant from each experimental group was further co‐cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells to induce vascularization. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) was thereafter detected using western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Compared with MSCs+H19 NC and MSCs groups, MSCs+H19 group presented with significantly higher proliferation rate, lower apoptosis percentage and a larger number of vascular branches on matrigel (P < 0.01). There was a significantly higher expression of VEGFA in the MSCs+H19 group than MSCs+H19 NC and MSCs groups. Compared with the MSCs and MSCs+si‐H19 NC groups, MSCs+H19 group presented with significantly lower proliferation rate, higher apoptosis percentage and a less number of vascular branches on matrigel (P < 0.01). In addition, VEGFA expression was distinctly downregulated in the MSCs+si‐H19 group in comparison with the MSCs+si‐H19 NC and MSCs groups. These findings indicate that IncRNA‐H19 effectively promotes MSCs survival and vascularization under hypoxic‐ischemic condition in vitro, and this effect may be associated with the upregulation of VEGFA.


The present invention includes a dispensing unit for the infusion device (100), related to the injection device incorporating a dispensing unit. Dosage unit from proximal housing end, the variable to a distal housing end adapted for connection with a volume container extends along a longitudinal axis housing (102), linked variable volume container a injection mechanism for ejecting a dose of the substance to be held in at least partially disposed in the housing (102), the injection button (157), in response to the dose ejecting operation of the injection button (157) , dose defined structure configured to move from a start position to dose end position (140), and, in response to movement of the dose definition structure from the start position to the dose end position (140), from a first position an injection mechanism comprising a piston rod (160) configured to move in the dose delivery direction to a second position, in response to movement of the dose definition structure from the start position to the dose end position (140), the dose from the ready position Constituted dose delivery indicator to move to the quantity delivered position distally in the axial direction (109) and provided with, during movement of the dose preparation position to the dose delivery position, dose delivery indicator (109) some of appears to increase from the distal housing end. .FIELD 8c


In this work, we report the synthesis of CdSe/CdS, CdSe/ZnS, and CdSe/ZnSe core/shell and CdSe/CdS alloy nanoparticles using bis(hexyl(methyl)dithio-/-diselenocarbamato)cadmium(II)/zinc(II) compounds as single-source precursors. We compare the optical properties of the core/shell nanoparticles in relation to those of the parent organically capped binary nanoparticles. We also compare the properties of CdSe alloys to those of the CdSe particles and core/shell structures. The absorption spectra of CdSe/CdS, CdSe/ZnS, and CdSe/ZnSe show red shifts of 0.020, 0.038, and 0.046 eV, respectively, with respect to the parent CdSe nanoparticles. Photoluminescence spectra (λexc = 400 nm) CdSe/CdS (622 nm), CdSe/ZnS (620 nm), and CdSe/ZnSe (617 nm) show emissions close to the absorption band edge. The emission maximum of the core/shell materials shows red shifts in relation to the emission maximum of CdSe consistent with the red shifts in the absorption spectra. The intensity of the emission maximum is considerably in...


Oral drug delivery is the most widely utilized route of administration among all the routes of administration that has been explored for the systematic delivery of drug through different pharmaceutical dosage forms. The popularity, of oral drug delivery may be in partly attributed to its ease of administration as well as the traditional belief that by oral administration, the drug is well absorbed because of the food stuff that are ingested daily. In fact, the development of a pharmaceutical product for oral delivery, irrespective of its physical form(solid, semisolid or liquid dosage forms), involves various extent of optimization of dosage form characteristics within the inherent consistent of gastro intestinal physiology. In the preformulation studies, it was found that Isradipine has low solubility with
independent of PH, i.e. it is soluble in 0.2% LDAO in water. • The FT-IR spectroscopy study was carried out to know the compatibility of the excipients with Isradipine Results was found no significance changes in characteristic peaks of drug in the recorded IR spectrum. Which it confirmed the drug and other excipients used in the formulation are compatible with each other. The analytical method used in the present study was found to be suitable for the estimation of Isradipine in different Medias which is indicated by the high regression values obtained in the standard plots. The controlled release matrix tablets were prepared by wet granulation method using PEG-400 and Isopropyl alcohol as binder and dibasic calcium phosphate as diluents. Tablets prepared were found to be within the official limits with respect to hardness, weight variation, drug content, thickness etc. Among all the nine formulations the release profile of trial F9 was found to be able to control the rate of release for 24 hours. The best linearity was found in Higuchi's equation plot for formulation indicating the release of drug from matrix as a square root of time dependent process based
on Fickian diffusion. The dissolution data was also plotted in accordance with Korsmeyer-peppas model (where n is the release exponent). Applicability of data indicating Non Fickian diffusion (or) Anomalous Transport as mechanism of drug release. Non Fickian diffusional release occurs by the usual molecular diffusion of the drug due to a chemical potential gradient. The stability study for the selected formulation F9 was performed as per ICH guidelines. Stability study is carried out for three months at 40°C; 75% RH, according to ICH guidelines. The tablets were tested for release during the stability period and confirmed that results were found within the limits. The stability data reveals that the F9 showed a negligible change in drug content after storage in various conditions for three months according to ICH guidelines.


Objective To study the imaging features of primary mediastinal cysts,and to improve the diagnostic ability of these diseases.Methods The imaging findings of primary mediastinal cysts proved by pathlolgy in 42 cases were retrospectively.All of cases underwent posteroanterior and lateral views of chest.The plain and contrast-enhanced CT scans were performed in 28 and 15 cases.MRI examination was done in 6 cases.The location,size,shape,density,edge,wall and adjacent structures of the primary mediastinal cysts were observed.According to imaging features all of cases was divided into typical group and atypical group.Results The mediastinal cysts were located in anterior mediastinum in 28 cases,in middle mediastinum in 7 cases,in posterior mediastinum in 7cases.Bronchogenic cyst was in 9 cases.Cystic lymphangioma was in 4 cases.Thymic cyst was in 11 cases.Pericardial cyst was in 5 cases.Mature cystic teratoma was in 13 cases.The typical group was in 38 cases.The atypical group was in 4 cases.Conclusion 90% of the typical primary mediastinal cysts can be diagnosed.The final diagnosis of the atypical group desponds on pathology.


From the end of July to the middle of August, 2005, a field remote sensing experiment was conducted in Bositeng Lake area, Xinjiang by Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, CAS. During the experiment we measured the atmospheric extinction characteristics with CIMEL sunphotometers. The method for determining atmospheric aerosol optical character from the data of CIMEL sunphotometers is described. The results show that during the experiment the aerosol optical thickness at 550 nm is about 0.17 and aerosol optical thickness variations within a day and over days are also small. Angstrom parametersαandβare about 1.19 and 0.08, and comparing with the 6S typical aerosol models, the aerosol model in the area is similar to the continent model.


Despite the significant positive impact of small and medium-sized enterprises on the economic growth and employment generation, small business enterprises in Kenya are continuously collapsing. The high rate of collapse in threatening their contribution to Kenya's gross domestic product. Although empirical studies from developed economies have revealed business innovations as the appropriate approach to addressing financial performance of small business, there is scanty documentation on business innovations as being a key determinant of the financial performance of small medium enterprise in Kenya. hence this study which assessed the manner in which the business innovations affects financial performance of Kenyan small medium enterprises. Adopting descriptive research design, the research used the 258 small medium enterprises in Garissa County as its target population from where a sample population of 155 respondents was selected using stratified proportionate random sampling. Data was collected from primary sources using a Original Research Article Shurie and Olando; AJEBA, 19(3): 47-59, 2020; Article no.AJEBA.61311 48 questionnaire and analysed using quantitative analysis approach to yield descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics with help of SPSS software Version 21.0. The study concludes that at 0.05 (5%) significance level, each of; financial institutional innovation, financial product innovations has positive and moderate statistically significant effect on financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya while each of; marketing innovation and financial process innovations has a statistically strong positively significant effect on the financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya. The research recommends that the financial performance in Kenya should; actively embark on adopting financial institutional innovations for improving their financial performance, embrace financial product innovations, develop and acquire marketing resources and appreciated and support modern financial process innovations.


Zora Neale Hurston once boasted that she was "the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother's side was not an Indian chief."' In the same breath, Hurston confessed that she was of mixed blood, but differed "from the party line in that I neither consider it an honor or a shame." This difference from "the party line," as she referred to African American perspectives on Native American ancestry, must have been especially striking to Hurston because she had helped to document race mixture during her brief stint as a research assistant to anthropologist Melville Herskovits. Hurston participated in a 1928 study of the ancestry and physical traits of African Americans, which surveyed 1,551 Howard University students and found that 27.2 percent claimed to have some Native American ancestry.2 Herskovits reports that he went to great lengths to adjust for the "distinct prestige value" of having Native American ancestry within African American communities, but neither he nor Hurston explained why Native American ancestry would have bestowed prestige.3 Herskovits's study was aimed at a long tradition of scientific research on the nature of racial difference., Strongly influenced by the work of anthropologist Franz Boas, Herskovits wanted to explain the achievement of those African Americans with lighter skin and European features in terms of the dominant system of values in American culture. Since the 1860s, Social Darwinists and later hereditarian eugenicists had sought to explain racial differences in terms of the value of innate biological traits possessed by what were considered to be separate and distinct races. Indeed, the perception that all characteristics were biologically determined and maintained in bloodlines, which were then regulated by "blood quantum" standards, formed an important part of how family identity was constructed.5 Herskovits questioned the biological framework of "racial integrity" by appealing to cultural and social differences to explain differences ascribed to races. However, this scientific attack did not work its way into American racial ideology for quite some time. In the interim, people renegotiated what were understood to be scientific racial categories in various ways, pointing to places where biological classificatory schema denied the historical realities of interracial relations.6


Background: The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population makes up approximately 6% of the total United States (US) population. Levels and patterns of food insecurity in the LGBT population during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the general population are unknown. This study examines prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of food insecurity among LGBT and straight/heterosexual adults in the US.
Methods: Using the US Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey from July to October 2021 (N=372,542), differentials in food insecurity according to LGBT status were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.
Results: The prevalence of food insecurity during the pandemic was 25.6% for transgender adults aged ≥18, significantly higher than that for lesbian/gay adults (11.6%), bisexual adults (13.5%), and straight/heterosexual adults (7.8%). Compared with the straight/heterosexual population, LGBT adults had lower education and income levels and higher unemployment and were more likely to be non-Hispanic White and single. Transgender adults were particularly disadvantaged with respect to socioeconomic status, job loss, and lack of health insurance. After controlling for socioeconomic and demographic covariates, lesbian/gay, bisexual, and transgender adults experienced, respectively, 36%, 35%, and 157% higher odds of food insecurity than straight/heterosexual adults. Black/African American, Hispanic, and mixed-race/ethnicity, lower education and income, lack of homeownership, divorce/separation, lack of health insurance, and recent job loss were significant predictors of food insecurity among LGBT adults. Inequalities in food insecurity by LGBT status were similar in large metropolitan areas.
Conclusions and Implication for Translation: Significant disparities in food insecurity exist withLGBT adults, particularly transgender adults, at substantially increased risk of experiencing food insecurity, economic hardship, and social disadvantage during the pandemic and likely in greater need of social and public assistance. Health policies aimed at improving the social and material conditions may lead to improved food security and health outcomes among LGBT adults and the general US population.

Copyright © 2022 Singh et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.


Summary: Purpose: The goal of the study was to evaluate the tubular renal function in children and adolescents who are undergoing monotherapy with sodium valproate (VPA), carbamazepine (CBZ), and phenobarbital (PB).


Abstract. Surface-water body maps are imperative for effective mosquito larvae control. This study aims to select a method for the automatic and regular mapping of surface-water bodies in rice fields and wetlands using Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar data. Four methods were adapted and developed for automated application: the Otsu valley-emphasis algorithm, a classification method based on the textural feature of entropy, a method using K-means unsupervised classification, and a method using the Haralick's textural feature of dissimilarity and fuzzy-rules classification. The results were assessed using field data collected during the mosquito breeding periods of 2018 and 2019 in the region of Central Macedonia (Greece). The Otsu valley-emphasis technique provides the highest overall accuracy (0.835). The accuracy is higher at the beginning of the summer (0.948) than at the end of the rice-growing season due to higher density of vegetation. Results using this method were further assessed during the main larvicide application period. The presence of vegetation, built-up areas, floating algae in rice-paddies, salt-crust formations in wetlands, and water depth, were found to affect the performance of the algorithm. A WebGIS platform was designed for the visualization of the produced water maps along with other data related to mosquito-larvae presence.


Slow slip and tremor are observed to occur simultaneously Such observation can be modelled using granular stick-slip experiments which shows that the timing of slips and acoustic emission (AE) are well correlated (e.g., Johnson al., GRL, AE waveforms are complex (e.g., Michlmayr & Or, Gran. Matt., 2014), and we do not fully understand the details of the temporal change of AE during the slip. Here we report the results of granular stick-slip experiments which focuses on the relation between the shear stress and AE, and their dependence on the shear rate, particle size and pore fluid. We shear glass beads using a rotating viscometer (Higashi and Sumita, JGR, 2009), and measure the shear stress and AE, using torsion spring and accelerometers, respectively. Mean shear stress decreases with shear rate, and also when particle size is smaller or when the granular matter is water-immersed. AE acceleration amplitude increases with shear rate and particle size, and decreases for a water-immersed case. AE velocity –time series data, obtained by integrating acceleration, indicates that there are two characteristic frequency (f) components ; a high f (of the order of 100 Hz) and a low f (of the order of 10Hz) components, and that the former tends to end earlier than the latter. Using the bandpass filtered data, we calculate the energy median time for the high f and low f components, and showed that for most cases, h-f component precedes the low-f component. We also confirmed a positive correlation between the AE power and the work per unit time needed for shearing. We hypothesize that the high-f component corresponds to the particle readjustment time. We extend the"Singing sand" model (Bagnold, 1966) and find that it explains the high-f of the order of 100. In order to evaluate the effect of fluid viscosity, we calculated the Stokes number (St) for the situation in our experiments. We find that St = 41 for the water-immersed case, indicating that inertia dominates over viscosity for particle size motions. This explains why fluid viscosity had small effect on AE in our experiments. The broad-band waveform analyses which we conducted using our experimental data suggest that such analyses may be useful to investigate the details of the relation between slow earthquakes and tremor.


The study was conducted for the production of cellulase enzyme through liquid state bioconversion of palm oil mill effluent (POME) by filamentous fungi and characterization of the produced enzyme. Several experiments such as selection of filamentous fungi, optimization of media and process parameters, development of the separation/purification conditions for ultra-filtration, characterization and evaluation of purified cellulase enzyme through hydrolysis of oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) were carried out to achieve the entire objectives of the study. The results on isolation indicated that among the strains isolated, the strains IBPC108R, IBEC302B and IBEC305B gave the highest FPAse activity (0.3 U/ml) after 2 days of fermentation and IBEC302B showed the highest CMCase activity (0.42 U/ml) after 3 days of fermentation. Among the laboratory stocks, Aspergillus IBO-102MNB, gave the highest FPAse activity (0.28 U/ml) and Aspergillus IBO-103MNB gave the highest CMCase activity (0.62 U/ml) after 2 days of fermentation. Among the strains tested, the Trichoderma reesei RUT C-30, a commercial


Crystal growing crucible (1) of boron nitride including cylindrical distal end part (3) for disposing a seed crystal and cylindrical straight trunk part (5) provided above the distal end part for crystal growth and having a diameter larger than that of the distal end part, characterized in that the thickness (T1) of the distal end part and the thickness (T2) of the straight trunk part satisfy the requirement 0.1 mm <= T2 < T1 <= 5 mm while the inside diameter (D2) of the straight trunk part and the length (L2) of the straight trunk part satisfy the requirements 100 mm < D2 and 2 < L2/D2 < 5.


11C-labeled C1-C10 partial structure of kulokekahilide-2 (1) was successfully synthesized based on Pd0-mediated rapid C-[11C]methylation using [11C]methyl iodide and pinacol alkenylboronate. The preparation of organoboron intermediate via olefin cross-metathesis is also a crucial procedure for the synthesis of 11C-labeling C1-C10 dihy-droxy acid moiety of 1.


The utility model discloses life-saving equipment, and particularly relates to a one-piece fire-proof suit. The one-piece fire-proof suit consists of a protective mask, a fire-proof jacket, protective gloves, fire-proof trousers and protective shoes which are connected into a whole, and comprises a basalt fiber outer layer, wherein the inner side of the basalt fiber outer layer is provided with a ceramic fiber central layer; and the inner side of the ceramic fiber central layer is provided with a grid-shaped compound phase change material inner layer. The one-piece fire-proof suit has the advantages of high-temperature-resistant fabric, good heat insulating effect, freeness from meltdown dripping, no emission of toxic gas and no thermal contraction phenomenon; and a person wearing the fire-proof suit can get closer to places with flame and do rescue and relief work at high temperature for a long time.


The invention relates to a method for preparing a titanium dioxide film with bulges on the surface. The method comprises the following steps of: 1, taking liquid organic titanium as a titanium source, dropping in a crucible, putting a cleaned and dried substrate above the liquid organic titanium through a support and closing a crucible cover; 2, putting the crucible in the step 1 in a heating furnace, adjusting the temperature in the heating furnace to 50-350 DEG C and performing heat preservation for 10 minutes to 24 hours, thereby obtaining a titanium-containing film on the substrate; and 3, adjusting the heating furnace to 450-700 DEG C and performing heat preservation for 1-20 hours, stopping heating, and cooling to room temperature at the speed of 5-300 DEG C/min, thereby obtaining the product. According to the invention, the curvature radius and density of the bulges on the surface and the crystal form of titanium dioxide and the like of the prepared film can be controlled through adjusting the parameters in the preparation process; and the product prepared by adopting the method disclosed by the invention has broad application prospect in the fields of dye-sensitized solar cells, photo-catalytic reactor and ripple photo-catalytic reactors and the like.


Recent years have seen an increased focus on the role of Ireland's woodlands and forests as a recreational resource. Numerous initiatives have emerged, including the Forest Service Neighbour Wood Scheme and Sculpture in Woodland. The Neighbour Wood Scheme provides funding for the development of "close-to-home" woodland amenities for regular use by local people, through partnerships involving local authorities and communities. Numerous critical success factors underpinning successful projects are identified and explored, as they will have relevance to similar projects elsewhere. Sculpture in Woodland in Devil's Glen, Co. Wicklow, is an example of a project that received support under the Neighbour Wood Scheme. This project represents a partnership between foresters and artists in the development of a sculpture collection in the forest. An overview of the development of the project, and the opportunities and challenges experienced, will be of relevance to similar projects involving foresters and other groups focused on enhancing the recreational use of Irish forests.


Growth and Characterization of Type-II Submonolayer ZnCdTe/ZnCdSe Quantum Dot Superlattices for Efficient Intermediate Band Solar Cells by Siddharth Dhomkar Adviser: Professor Igor L. Kuskovsky In this thesis, we discuss the growth procedure and the characterization results obtained for epitaxially grown submonolayer type-II quantum dot superlattices made of II-VI semiconductors. The goal behind this study is to show the feasibility of this novel material system in fabricating an efficient intermediate band solar cell. Intermediate band solar cells can potentially have an efficiency of 63.2% under full solar concentration, but the material systems investigated until now are far from optimum and are fraught with growth related issues including low quantum dot densities, presence of wetting layers, strain driven dislocations etc. Here, we have investigated a novel material system grown via migration enhanced epitaxy with stacked type-II ZnCdTe submonolayer quantum dots embedded in ZnCdSe matrix and having close to the optimal material parameters required for an IB material. Upon optimizing growth conditions for ZnTe/ZnSe multilayer quantum dot systems, the growth parameters were modified so as to obtain various ZnCdTe/ZnCdSe samples grown on InP substrates. An extensive characterization has been performed to investigate structural, optical as well as electrical properties of these multilayered structures. Finally, a preliminary device fabrication has been performed, which will provide definite guidelines towards optimization of an actual intermediate band solar cell structure. To restate, the objective of this thesis is to demonstrate successful growth and characterization of multilayer structures with embedded submonolayer type-II quantum dots in order to explore the possibility of employing them as an intermediate band material, with the goal of engineering an ultra-efficient intermediate band solar cell.


A new unmagnetized collisional Mach probe theory is developed in order to resolve the collisional effect on Mach probe analysis by including ionization, charge and momentum transfer of ions in the perturbation region of a Mach probe. A fluid model is established by assuming Boltzmann electrons and taking the moments of the one-dimensional Boltzmann transport equation, which contains the two-dimensional transport information as a source, after adding a collisional term. A new relation between the flow velocity and the ratio of the ion sheath current densities is obtained, and is compared with those by a collisionless kinetic theory and a particle-in-cell simulation in the applicable range of these theories. A new relation between flow velocity and the ratio of the ion sheath current densities shows that ion–neutral collisions have a very strong effect to produce much smaller Mach numbers from the same ratio than those by collisionless models.


YY Han, F Rosser, E Forno, JC Celedon. J Allergy Clin Immunol . 2020;145(3):1025–1028.e6

Consumption of e-cigarettes can lead to cigarette smoking and use of other combustible products, but little is known about concurrent use of e-cigarettes, marijuana, and cigarettes in adolescents. Use of e-cigarettes has been associated with symptoms and exacerbations of asthma and the authors hypothesized that e-cigarette use would be associated with asthma in adolescents, and that such association would be stronger when e-cigarette use is combined with marijuana and/or cigarette smoking.

Data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) system from 2015 …


Abstract: Trafficking of stolen vehicles has been the subject of few studies in the United States. Little is known about patterns and characteristics of vehicles that are stolen for international export. The current research constructs a logistic regression model to identify variables associated with international vehicle trafficking in Chula Vista, California. Vehicle, spatial, and temporal independent variables are developed, including those tested in previous research and variables presented in this study for the first time. The results show that the strongest predictors differentiating vehicles recovered in Mexico from domestically recovered thefts are the type of vehicle and age. Specifically, newer sport-utility vehicles, trucks and vans are more likely to be recovered in Mexico than the U.S. None of the variables related to space and time are statistically significant predictors in the model using 95 percent confidence intervals. Policy implications emanating from this research include more focused patrol and public awareness campaigns to proactively reduce this harmful form of vehicle theft.Keywords: crime analysis, environmental criminology, motor vehicle theft, transnational crimeINTRODUCTIONThe theftof motor vehicles (MVT) for the purpose of international export harms direct victims, communities, and all insured vehicle owners. When vehicles are stolen and taken out of the country, victims may miss work, suffer emotional consequences, and often must pay for some or all of a replacement vehicle. Similarly, indirect victims are affected by the way stolen vehicles are driven and elevated insurance costs. Although international vehicle trafficking has been observed for over 30 years in the United States, changes in the national distribution of MVT indicate that the issue has become a particularly widespread problem at the U.S.-Mexico border over the past two decades. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has estimated that approximately 200,000 vehicles are stolen from the U.S. on an annual basis for export (Clarke and Brown 2003; United States General Accounting Office 1999), yet very little has been established about the patterns and characteristics of vehicles illegally taken for this purpose.Vehicles can be exported from a country via one of three methods: air, sea, and land borders. Based on the immense costs and difficulties associated with flying vehicles out of the country, most exported stolen vehicles are assumed to be moved across borders to Canada or Mexico, or through seaports on the coasts (Brown and Clarke 2004; Clarke and Brown 2003). At the U.S.-Mexico border alone, over 30 international crossings in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas serve as potential routes for vehicle exportation. In addition, the presence of seaports permits vehicles to be shipped out of the country on roll-on/roll-offshipping boats and in 40-foot containers (Clarke and Brown 2003).Previous studies of vehicle trafficking in the U.S. are mostly limited to qualitative accounts of organized crime groups (Resendiz 1998, 2001; Resendiz and Neal 1999; Richardson and Resendiz 2006), analysis of insurance company data (Field, Clarke and Harris 1991), and evaluations or discussion of prevention measures (Ethridge and Sorensen 1993; Plouffe and Sampson 2004). The current study seeks to fill gaps in the literature on stolen vehicle exporting by exploring vehicle-related, spatial, and temporal characteristics that differentiate vehicles stolen in the U.S. and recovered in Mexico from vehicles stolen in the U.S. and recovered domestically. Logistic regression models are developed using the recovery country as the dependent variable for theftincidents in Chula Vista, California, a city located only miles from the busiest road border crossing connecting the U.S. to Mexico.BACKGROUNDThe first piece of legislation aimed toward curbing vehicle trafficking was the Dyer Act of 1919. Rather than focusing on international commerce, the Dyer Act was constructed to restrict inter-state trafficking of vehicles (Richburg 1984). …


: The paper offers a portray of the Polish state poised in the mid-twelfth century between the East and the West, i.e., Rus, fragmented into principalities, and two mighty powers of medieval Europe, the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy, respectively.


Abstract: The focus of this paper is the analysis of the most important factors for SMEs' performance, survival and growth in EU.
The main objective is to consider what determines the potential failure of young companies to innovate and grow. The importance of new, young and thus often still small firms for innovations and growth is commonly claimed. Therefore, factors that would inhibit these small, young companies to achieve their goals can have a huge public impact.
The research results show that the age of the firm (which reflects its reputation) is important to the degree to which the firm feels financially constrained. Also, finance barriers can be associated with the market failure. Risk and informational asymmetries create capital market imperfections and a firm's lack of reputation and collateral become crucial elements.
Conclusions reveal that the ability of SMEs to grow depends highly on their potential to invest in restructuring, innovation and qualification. All of these investments require capital and therefore access to finance. Recent policy initiatives aim at improving the financial environment for European entrepreneurial activity and more specifically to support newly-founded innovative firms in order to increase their global competitiveness and spur innovation.

Key words: SMEs, financing, innovation, growth.


A brake for an electric bicycle is described, said brake comprising at least one mounting block (21) including a brake lever bracket (13) and a brake lever (5). Suitably, the brake comprises an internal support-piece (17) in turn comprising at least one first hole (17A) for housing a brake cable (11) connected to a suitable braking apparatus and a seating portion (17B) for seating a sensor cable (19) connecting a braking sensor (19A) to an electric motor of said electric bicycle.


This paper aims at studying the definite referential and emphatic functions of demonstratives in the poems of Shin Dong-yeop, particularly the transfer of referential functions to emphatic functions. Methodologically based on pragmatics and discourse text analysis, special attention is directed to poetic context and the intentions of poetic narrators. Major points are as follows: Demonstratives' definite referential functions become more subjectified and specialized in Shin's poems than in ordinary language. Their emphatic functions also become active to the effect of generating impressive literary impact. Referential functions come out as situational deixis and anaphoric reference, and situational deixis appear as textual situation and narrator situation deixis. The more redundant the contextual definiteness becomes, the greater referential emphasis the anaphoric reference is accompanied with. Contextual types, in which the referential functions transfer to emphatic functions, comprise adjacent pro-forms and repetitive expressions, relative clauses, cleft constructions, unspecific temporal words, and universal quantifiers. In contexts in which nouns or modifiers follow demonstratives, connotative meaning or content emphasizing functions become dominant.


The interferences of phosphate were excluded by the addition of calcium nitracte. A accurate and fast method of direct titration chloride by sliver nitate in compund ferterlizer was established. With standard error 0.053% -0.12% and relative error 0.34% -9.10%.


Diabetes mellitus is caused by a partial or complete lack of insulin production in the body. We have previously shown that a single injection of an adeno‐associated virus serotype 8 (AAV8) vector carrying a modified and codon optimized human insulin gene induced hepatic production of insulin and corrected streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetes in mice for more than 1 year. Insulin production was constitutive, analogous to long‐acting insulin therapy.


Multimedia teaching is a new teaching method which comes with the development of multimedia technology and network communication technology. Having changed the traditional mode of education,it plays an important role in modern education and has its own superiority.However,it also brings about various problems in the practical work.This article analyzes and discusses some specific problems in the multimedia teaching,briefly expounds that in a student-oriented premise,we should give full play to the multimedia teaching,optimize classroom teaching and develop students′ learning initiative to promote the development of teaching.


This paper presents a three-stage switching control method to deal with the non-equilibrium transient trajectory shaping (NETTS) control problem for a class of nonlinear systems. Through this method, the system tracking error non-equilibrium transient trajectory can be effectively shaped by constant boundaries and two pre-designed, exponentially-converging bounds. The tracking error is handled by a Barrier Lyapunov Function (BLF) in the first stage. Once the derivative of the tracking error reaches a desired negative value, the control law is switched into stage 2 where a trajectory shaping method is utilized by changing the coordinates and the trajectory of tracking error is bounded by two pre-designed, exponentially-converging boundaries. After the tracking error converging into a sufficiently small region around zero, the control law is switched to the BLF based method again for constraining the transient trajectory in the third stage. A numerical example is utilized to demonstrate the performance of the proposed three-stage NETTS switching control algorithm.


In this paper, a research on coastal Radar to support C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) was carried out.This coastal Radar has an advantage of easy to be transported in order to observe seas/coastal areas in different locations. The Radar technology used in this research is FMCW (frequency modulated continuous wave) with a S-band working frequencies, where this type of Radar has a LPI (low probability of intercept) capability. In this paper, the presentation is on antenna and hardware development, while the radar software is currently still on progress for the installation. The Radar consists of antenna system (dual antenna), an antenna moving parts (stator + motor), the high frequency part of RF (radio frequency), power supply, rotary joint for connecting between the RF with antenna, down converter to convert the signal RF to IF (intermediate frequency), power splitter 3-1 and 1-3 serves as a multiplexer and de-multiplexer. The mux/de-mux connects to the signal processing part of IF, part of the data processing and Radar signal, and the Radar display. The designed and fabricated antenna system produces bandwidth of 61.25 MHz, VSWR at 3 GHz = 1.303, one degree of horizontal angle and vertical angle of 19.6 degrees. The measurement results show a similarity between the designed and the measured antennas, i.e., the vertical beamwidth <20 ° and antenna gain array of 27.52 dBi. Keywords-component;radar; coastal; radio frequency; antenna; continuous wave.


Posterior pilon fracture is a special and unique type of ankle fracture, and its injury mechanism and treatment principles are different from those of the trimalleolar fracture in the Lauge-Hansen classification, and also different from those described for the classic pilon fracture. The fractures have a low incidence and generally poor prognosis. The prevalence of posterior pilon fractures is 6.4% of all trimalleolar fractures, and 5.6% of all pilon fractures based on computed tomography images. The pathological features of posterior pilon fractures are different from those of the traditional ankle fracture and the classic pilon fracture, and it is very important to differentiate a posterior pilon fracture from the others. Because of the low incidence and high variation in fracture morphology, there is controversy over the practicable classification of posterior pilon fractures based on clinical features, such as injury mechanism, fracture classification and surgical approach. An ideal fracture classification system can reveal the injury mechanism and severity, guide the treatment, and predict prognosis. At present, no classification method is based on the injury mechanism, and none can summarize fracture morphology and guide treatment. The purpose of this study was to review the injury mechanism, clinical characteristics, classifications, treatments, and outcomes of posterior pilon fractures, to promote surgeons' understanding of posterior pilon fracture and reduce perioperative complication.


We analyzed lizard population density and tail loss frequency in 2 populations of Uma paraphygas to determine if the proportion of lizards with tail loss was different between populations, sexes, and age classes. Also, we estimated unbroken and regenerated tail growth rates for adult males and females, and juveniles. Data were collected between fall 1997 and summer 1999. Tail loss incidence was relatively low overall, but was significantly higher at the site (Dune 1) with lower vegetation cover. Adult lizards showed a higher tail loss frequency than juveniles at the site with higher vegetation density (Dune 2); there was no difference between adult males and females in both dunes. Observations on 33 lizards with bite marks suggest that intraspecific encounters are not a direct cause of caudal autotomy in this species. The caudal growth rates of lizards were similar for unbroken and regenerated tails between sexes and among age classes.


With JASON-1 and TOPEX/POSEIDON measurements taken during the verification phase in the China Seas and Northwest Pacific Ocean,such parameters as the sea surface wind speed,significant wave height,backscatter coefficient and sea surface height are compared systematically,and the coherence of the two missions is analyzed.For the Chinese continental shelf waters,tidal contamination is much reduced for(JASON-1) derived sea surface height by calculating the tide height with the j,v model and the local harmonic constants,which is further validated with monthly averaged in situ data.It shows the marine environmental parameters observed by TOPEX/POSEIDON and JASON-1 basically coincide well with each other.As the follow-on satellite of TOPEX/POSEIDON,JASON-1 proves to be able to continue the data-stream of TOPEX/POSEIDON.However,the differences between the two systems still can not be neglected.Corrected models for the individual oceanic parameters have been proposed after analyzing such differences.It is worthwhile to mention that the tidal correction model for shallow waters used in this paper may work effectively.Comparisons of the corrected JASON1 monthly sea surface height with that obtained by tide gauges show a correlation coefficient of 0.738 and a standard deviation of 0.096 m.Based on the work above,we propose to merge the TOPEX/POSEIDON and JASON-1 data in tandem phase.Comparisons of monthly sea surface height of merged data against that obtained by tide gauges show a correlation coefficient of 0.83 and a standard deviation of 0.067m.


By employing Lyapunov function,the sufficient conditions for robust stability of a special dynamic interval systems with interval matrix of non-zero in the diagonal were obtained,the global robust stability and robustl stability for the special dynamic systems with time-delay were obtained respectively.These conditions can be easily used because it needs only to test a matrix whether it is a M matrix.Example shows that the result is simple and easy to implement.


A high-precision intercomparison between two Josephson array voltage standards has been used to determine an upper limit to the resistive slope of 70-GHz microwave-induced constant-voltage steps. Over the 20 µa width of a quantized step near 1 V, the variation of step voltage is, in the most sensitive case, less than 7 × 10-13V.


Introduction: Extracellular miRNAs in the blood plasma/serum of patients as novel promising diagnostic markers for various diseases has aroused huge attention. Among various major platforms for extracellular miRNA detection, extensively used RT-qPCR is considered practical and cost-efficient in experimental investigation. However, there are also many technical challenges, hence the development of robust methodology for extracellular miRNA detection is in good need. Methods: Focused on the controversial procedures present in recent studies, we intend to solving these technical problems and seeking for optimal procedures for extracellular miRNA profiling using the RT-qPCR method. Results: We addressed our concerns during the whole detection such as various key points during blood handling, choice making during RNA isolation and miRNA RT process, practical management in global miRNAs profiling using PCR as well as data normalization and processing. Meanwhile, we described and evaluated our profiling method in detail, intended to optimize the procedures that might lead to variable results from independent experiments, and further recommend this standardized optimal procedure. Conclusion: Our work might provide a potent technical optimization for extracellular miRNA detection.


This presentation explored the creation and sharing of resources with students via social media as a way of challenging the authoritative nature of traditional academic skills content (Price et. al, 2017; Gordon and Melrose, 2011). The concept of the 'Sage on the Stage' has been replaced in recent years with a more active, student-centred learning environment (Roberts, 2016). Audiograms are bitesize audio-visual explorations of student questions about academic skills, created and distributed collaboratively with our Student Peer Mentors. It had been anticipated that the peer mentors would take the lead in the audiogram creation, drawing on a range of student voices and researching, writing, and recording responses to them in the format of an advice columnist, so that the advice was given student to student.
While the student peer mentors had a sense of teamwork around the audiograms' creation, they felt varying degrees of ownership. Ultimately, the audiogram creation was led, co-ordinated and produced by a staff member. However, desired student outcomes were addressed through collaboration, problem-solving and reflective production (Al Qasim and Al Fadda, 2013; Fernandez et al., 2015; Forbes, 2015 cited in Hopkins, 2020). The peer mentors also acted as coaches who can assist new students with time management, study skills and goal setting (Parsloe and Wray, 2004 cited in Gordon and Melrose, 2011). Student Peer Mentors needed active support and supervision to achieve this. However, the results of the work bring a less formal and more engaging approach to the subject matter.


The results of investigation of grain size effect on mechanical properties of Ni3Al – based intermetallic strips measured in a tensile test at room temperature in air have been shown in the paper. Thin intermetallic strips with average grain size of 1, 5, 7, 26, 43 and 83 micrometers prepared by cold rolling and heat treatment at parameters chosen on the basis of our earlier completed recrystallization maps have been used for tensile tests. It has been stated that increasing of basic γ' phase grain refinement caused intensive increase of tensile yield strength (TYS) and lower increase of ultimate tensile strength (UTS). The highest effectiveness of grain boundary strengthening has been found for average grain size up to 10 micrometers and was connected with a strong reduction of intermetallic material plasticity as well with increasing of its elasticity finding expression in TYS/UTS ratio. However, even for extremely fine-grained Ni3Al sample (average grain size approximately 1 micrometer) a value of ultimate tensile elongation obtained at room temperature in air ("hard conditions" for intermetallic alloys sensitive to environmentally influenced brittleness) was still high – approximately 30% at tensile yield strength above 1200 MPa. The results obtained (for recrystallized Ni3Al) were much better then those for appropriate alloys described in literature. In the analyzed grain size range, a classic exponential dependence of yield strength on average grain size was confirmed. Tension test results were in good correlation with fracture structure. It has been stated that fractures of samples with different grain size were quite similar and mixture-type. There was cleavage fracture via micro-volume of each grain, related to ductile fracture via microregions along grain boundaries. For all tested range of grain sizes a fraction of ductile fracture microregions was high, but higher for coarse-grained samples with ultimate elongation ran into 70%. A dependence of a phase structure (a fraction of γ disordered phase) and degree of γ' phase ordering on mechanical properties and fracture in a tensile test at room temperature in air was also discussed in the paper.


Provided is a tea leaves for extraction of a low-caffeine green tea beverage, which is not susceptible to folding or browning during storage, and which enables the extraction of a green tea beverage which can be enjoyed hot or cold. Specifically provided is a tea leaves for extraction of a green tea beverage having a caffeine content with respect to the total mass of the dried leaves that falls within the range of 0.2 to 2.5 mass %, and the relation between the ratio of the mass content of theanine to the entire mass of dried leaves X (%) and the mass ratio of the content of monosaccharides to the fiber content Y satisfies the following condition: -0.007X+0.024@Y@-0.011X+0.039.


Background: Tinnitus is an unpleasant symptom, and its prevalence among the elderly is very high. We conducted annual examinations of people in a community using a health survey with an additional item on tinnitus to investigate the risk factors within this community.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 510 Japanese citizens (215 men, 295 women) who attended a health examination. A self-report questionnaire including items on tinnitus and a hearing test were administered. For the examination, body weight, body mass index, body fat percentage, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. A blood examination included counts of red and white blood cells as well as platelets, and measures of hemoglobin, total protein, total cholesterol, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, and serum calcium.Results: A logistic regression analysis revealed that subjective hearing loss, vertigo, and a high level of serum calcium were associated with tinnitus after adjustment for age and sex. There was a significant correlation between subjective hearing loss and pure tone audiogram results.Conclusions: Hearing loss, vertigo, and serum calcium level are independently associated with subjective tinnitus.


Phenylethenyl end-capped imide oligomers based on pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), 2, 5-bis(4-aminophenoxy)-biphenyl (p-TPEQ) and 4-phenylethynylphthalic anhydride (PEPA) were prepared. The thermal properties and melt viscosity of oligomers were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and rheological studies, respectively. The oligomers bearing pendant phenyl groups exhibited much lower melt viscosities than PETI-5, and provided broader processing window. Thermal curing processing was monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, crosslink reaction of phenylethynyl end group completed at 370 °C in 20 min. Glass transition temperatures of cured oligomers determined by DMA were about 273 to 330 °C, which was much higher than PETI-5. In addition, these cured imide oligomers exhibited excellent tensile properties with strength about 100 MPa and modulus more than 2 GPa. Finally, the films cured by oligo-6 were aged at 177 °C for different times and they still exhibited excellent thermo-oxidative stabilities after aging. It is concluded that using inexpensive PMDA not only lowers the cost, but also increases the glass transition temperature after curing. The excellent properties of these phenylethynyl end-capped imide oligomers demonstrate a promising potential for future aerospace applications.


Abstract : Airship installation of delicate optical equipment often requires special rigging equipment not available commercially. One problem at this Laboratory called for the installation of an 8.5-foot-diameter mirror weighing nearly 2000 pounds, in a type ZPM-4 airship. The mirror was required to pass beneath a conical windscreen having a 5-foot clearance above the ground and be mounted within the screen at an angle of 45 degrees. One answer to this problem was a carriage having a top deck pivoted at one end. The movable deck was raised to the required angle by a motor driven hydraulic hoist of the type used commercially for dump trucks. The mirror was mounted on this movable deck by means of a wooden cradle which could then be drawn up the incline into position for installation in the airship. The inclined deck contains steel rollers to reduce friction and the cradle moves upward by means of an electric chain hoist. This hydraulic carriage was used successfully in many operations involving installation and removal of the mirror and resulted in a great saving of man-hours of rigging time.


ROSAT observed 39 classical novae less than 10 years after outburst, but only three of them (Nova Mus 1983 (GQ Mus), Nova Cyg 1992 (V1974 Cyg) and Nova LMC 1995) were found to be soft X‐ray sources (0.1–0.4 keV), as a result of steady hydrogen burning on the white dwarf's surface. V1974 Cyg also showed a harder component, and Nova Her 1991 (V838 Her) and Nova Pup 1991 (V351 Pup) were detected only in the ROSAT hard band (0.4–2.4 keV). This hard component was fitted with a thermal plasma model, and the required temperature was understood to be caused by shocks in the ejecta. In this work, we study the possible contribution to the X‐ray spectrum of the photoionization of the ejected gas shell by the central source. We use the XSTAR photoionization code to simulate the X‐ray spectrum of a classical nova during the post‐outburst phase. We compare these results with ROSAT/PSPC spectra of V1974 Cyg.


creating boundaries the politics of race and nation is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our books collection spans in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the creating boundaries the politics of race and nation is universally compatible with any devices to read.


ABSTRACT Bilingual children are often exposed to non-native speech through their parents. Yet, little is known about the relation between bilingual preschoolers' speech production and their speech input. The present study investigated the production of voice onset time (VOT) by Dutch-German bilingual preschoolers and their sequential bilingual mothers. The findings reveal an association between maternal VOT and bilingual children's VOT in the heritage language German as well as in the majority language Dutch. By contrast, no input-production association was observed in the VOT production of monolingual German-speaking children and monolingual Dutch-speaking children. The results of this study provide the first empirical evidence that non-native and attrited maternal speech contributes to the often-observed linguistic differences between bilingual children and their monolingual peers.


"This extensive collection of do-it-yourself projects ranges from simple ideas using household materials to sophisticated plans requiring a significant investment of time and money, a few of which, such as a parabolic sound antenna, are unique. Each device or set-up includes a list of materials, generally clear instructions, and a black-and-white drawing of the finished product."-- "Booklist. "100 science fair projects that your child can do....Great for the new school season!"-- "Woman's Way. ."..many good projects...place in the school science library."-- "Appraisal. 224 pages, 102 b/w illus., 7 x 10.


A masticatory test with dynamic loading has been developed and theoretical rationale for it and its method are presented. The preparation of test material, the procedure, analysis of the results, and calculations are described in detail.


Recently, the production process of a manufacturer and exporter of children's garment company encountered some problems. Many of clients of the company were consistently complaining about delays in delivery of their orders. This situation was badly and negatively affecting the image and reputation of the company. To solve the problem, a research team was set up. The team conducted couple of interviews with 25 supervisors of the company as well as 4 top-managers (including production manager, general manager, quality assurance manager, and packing manager), who all were unanimously agreeing on the act that the number of the complaint letters and calls from customers were increasing day by day. Unfortunately the company was using a very traditional and out-of-fashion approach to track and trace the placement of each order, since no information system was being used and everything was handled manually following a paper-based approach. The research team spent 4 months to collect, study and investigate all the available data while transferring and transforming the data from printed documents into digital event logs (including timestamp, process type, activity name, resources, and other additional attributes and so on). Thanking to process mining techniques. The researchers were able to overcome and end this undesirable situation. In general, this study is divided into 3 main parts. In the first part, Alpha Miner algorithm, which is a Petri net-based process discovery approach, was applied in order to simulate and visualize the overall workflow of the processes within the garment manufacturer and exporter company. In the second part, ILP Replayer technique, which is a conformance checking approach, was used with the purpose of comparing and replaying the authentic event logs in hand with a standard model (i.e., a master key previously generated by top production managers) in order to investigate the compatibility and compliance of the real data with the pre-defined rules and conditions. The findings showed 15 violations of the rules (i.e., so-called bottlenecks) or undesirable situations which need to be addressed carefully and immediately. The third part of the work emphasizes on offering solutions and suggestions on how the identified problems were solved and undertaken. Eventually, the proposed approach could significantly improve the efficiency of the orders delivery process leading to increased customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and added-value on the company's brand image and reputation.


Polyurethane (PU) sponge has become a preferred oil adsorbent in recent oil-spill accidents. To make the sponge superhydrophobic and superoleophilic, this study used graphene (GN), which was modified with γ-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy silane (KH-570), to coat the PU sponge (called the KH–GN sponge). This study showed the best loading capacity (11.96%) of the KH-570-modified GN on the sponge. The contact angles of the KH–GN PU sponge were 161° for water and 0° for soybean, diesel, and pumping oil. It had good selectivity for oil over water, and the KH–GN sponge achieved adsorption equilibrium within a few seconds. The absorption capability of the KH–GN sponge was up to 39 times greater. Additionally, the KH–GN PU sponge could be reused for oil–water separation for more than 120 cycles without losing its superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties. Therefore, the sponge prepared in this study could be a desirable material for the cleanup of oil spills. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41821.